# 3 Steps to Combat Cloud Outages
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2022-12-21
Category: TECHNOLOGY
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/technology
Meta Title: Accelerate Your Cloud Transformation: Benefits, Risks &
Meta Description: Discover the latest survey results confirming the importance of cybersecurity and cloud investments in accelerating core technology transformations. Be ahead of
URL: https://financedigest.com/3-steps-to-combat-cloud-outageshtml

![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/istock-1061306852-1736814701133-compressed.jpg)

![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/sudhir-nair-1736814701060-compressed.jpg)

_By_ **_Sudhir Nair,_** _Chief Delivery Officer & Global Head, Infra & Cloud Business, Tech Mahindra_

Today, many businesses’ digital transformation journeys are well underway. Our latest IT survey with [business and technology leaders confirms the accelerating pace of at-scale core technology transformations](https://www.financedigest.com/7-ways-cloud-technology-can-transform-business-finances.html "7 ways cloud technology can transform business finances"). The results point to a much greater focus on [cybersecurity and on investments](https://www.financedigest.com/large-investment-success-for-basingstoke-cybersecurity-start-up.html "Large investment success for Basingstoke cybersecurity start-up") in cloud technologies, even as most companies have continued transforming their core architecture and infrastructure.

While this transition began before COVID-19, due to the [$1trillion](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/cloud-migration-opportunity-business-value-grows-but-missteps-abound) business value cloud adoption could unlock, the pandemic significantly accelerated the trend. The survey also confirms that the [competitive divide between winners and the rest has only grown during the pandemic](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-maintain-customer-loyalty-and-trust-in-the-face-of-a-pandemic-and-digital-competition.html "How to maintain customer loyalty and trust in the face of a pandemic and digital competition").

In these uncertain and volatile business environment, CEOs will be pleased to learn that migrating to the [cloud offers](https://www.financedigest.com/how-hybrid-cloud-computing-offers-the-best-of-all-worlds.html "How hybrid cloud computing offers the best of all worlds") a plethora of benefits, that is not limited to increasing including the ability to greatly boost operational efficiency and cutting operational expenses but also improving their market share by accelerating GO TO Market strategy execution. A successful [CLOUD Transformation results in a positive impact](https://www.financedigest.com/tomorrows-world-how-cloud-computing-will-impact-the-financial-services-sector-in-2016.html "TOMORROW’S WORLD: HOW CLOUD COMPUTING WILL IMPACT THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR IN 2016") in every one of the following value-creation measures we asked about: increased revenue through existing streams, increased revenue from new streams, decreased costs, and improved employee satisfaction.

These advantages are encouraging organisations to ramp up their [adoption of cloud technologies](https://www.financedigest.com/the-benefits-of-adopting-cloud-technology-in-the-finance-industry.html "The benefits of adopting cloud technology in the finance industry"), which can create a more flexible infrastructure speed up technology deployment and get digital products to market more quickly.

**A rain(cloud) on the parade**

All of that said, risks do remain. Valuable [data will always attract the attention of unwanted bad actors and their attempts to access this information](https://www.financedigest.com/what-is-a-virtual-data-room-unveil-the-essential-information-here.html "What is a Virtual Data Room? Unveil the Essential Information Here!") will continue to be a thorn in company’s digital journeys. Cloud outages caused by cyberattacks, human errors, technology failures, application defects, poorly designed architecture and inability of the organisation preparedness for the failures, which can be reputational and financially crippling, but the [risk can be significantly reduced by CIOs taking preventative](https://www.financedigest.com/preventing-an-operationally-crippling-ransomware-attack-do-you-know-where-your-risk-exposure-lies.html "PREVENTING AN OPERATIONALLY CRIPPLING RANSOMWARE ATTACK –  DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR RISK EXPOSURE LIES?") action and preparing adequately for the potential aftermath.

In 2021, a one-hour outage [cost Amazon](https://www.financedigest.com/amazon-other-retailers-revamp-free-shipping-as-costs-soar.html "Amazon, other retailers revamp ‘free’ shipping as costs soar") an estimated $34 million in sales. Not every company is the size of Amazon, nor would most [cloud outages have that level of financial](https://www.financedigest.com/a-cloud-migration-guide-for-financial-institutions.html "A Cloud Migration Guide for Financial Institutions") loss directly associated with them, but it does highlight how significant a cloud outage can be.

It is also a common misperception that most outages are caused by cyberattacks, although this is not the case. Infrastructure or software failure has been the most common cause of cloud outages since 2022. Obviously, this does not imply that security should be overlooked; the more data [organisations store in the cloud](https://www.financedigest.com/embracing-cloud-computing-how-and-why-organisations-are-set-to-invest-more-in-cloud-computing-in-2023.html "Embracing Cloud Computing: How and why organisations are set to invest more in cloud computing in 2023"), the more likely they are to become a target. Every [organisation is in some shape of hybrid and multi cloud](https://www.financedigest.com/cloud-migration-for-financial-services-organisations-whats-the-best-approach.html "Cloud Migration for Financial Services Organisations – What’s the best approach?") environment brings more challenges to cause cascading effect across the spectrum (Ex: 3rd Party API’s).

[Increasing number of cyber incidents coinciding with growing reliance](https://www.financedigest.com/banking-and-fintech-convergence-will-increase-reliance-on-it.html "Banking and Fintech Convergence will Increase Reliance on IT") on digitisation, a proliferation of endpoint devices, and increased vulnerabilities in hybrid and remote-work setups—is not a pandemic-era phenomenon but rather part of a new business reality.

The most damaging effect of an outage or [data breach](https://www.financedigest.com/10-steps-to-stop-lateral-movement-in-data-breaches.html "10 Steps to Stop Lateral Movement in Data Breaches") is the loss of customer trust and their business reputation. Consider the example above: for a marketplace less embedded in the current ecommerce landscape, an outage like the one [Amazon suffered could lead to its sellers losing](https://www.financedigest.com/amazon-loses-bid-to-throw-out-case-by-uk-drivers-seeking-worker-rights.html "Amazon loses bid to throw out case by UK drivers seeking worker rights") trust in the platform and moving to a competitor. A data breach that includes confidential information about your employees, suppliers, and customers will inevitably lead to a loss of stakeholder trust and unwillingness to continue [sharing information](https://www.financedigest.com/privacy-vs-security-is-the-cybersecurity-information-sharing-act-beneficial.html "PRIVACY VS SECURITY: IS THE CYBERSECURITY INFORMATION SHARING ACT BENEFICIAL?"). In these scenarios, the final nail in the coffin could be the [economic implications](https://www.financedigest.com/the-politics-economics-and-investment-implications-of-brexit.html "The politics, economics and investment implications of Brexit") of losing clients to competitors as a result.

So, with the effects of an outage being so severe, what can CIOs do to guard against them?

**Prevent, Predict, and Protect**

The good news is that there are many [ways to minimise the chances of a business](https://www.financedigest.com/3-ways-to-go-about-testing-your-business-ux-design.html "3 Ways to Go About Testing Your Business’ UX Design") experiencing an outage. The first thing a [company should do is undertake detailed due diligence when selecting a cloud](https://www.financedigest.com/green-cloud-one-way-your-company-can-commit-to-sustainability.html "Green Cloud: one way your company can commit to sustainability") provider. It’s imperative to understand the condition of their infrastructure, their system functionality, and their processes and guidelines to be followed in the event of an outage. There are [several hyper scalers s who natively provide highly available and resilient infrastructure across dispersed geographical region to minimise or nullify the impact](https://www.financedigest.com/the-severe-impact-of-downtime-on-companies-bottom-lines.html "The severe impact of downtime on companies’ bottom lines") of outage.

Second, during the design phase, the architecture design team [must ensure](https://www.financedigest.com/finance-firms-must-ensure-they-fix-data-fundamentals.html "Finance firms must ensure they fix data fundamentals") that the design have built adequate disaster recovery provisions according to the criticality of business application.  As many outages occur due to hardware and infrastructure issues, they often only affect one physical location. Having a backup [cloud location will continue to allow your users access to services](https://www.financedigest.com/tackling-the-cloud-skills-gap-in-financial-services.html "Tackling the cloud skills gap in financial services") if an outage happens, limiting the impact on your users and therefore your organisation.

According to Mckinsey report, human errors contribute to [one-third](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/building-a-cloud-ready-operating-model-for-agility-and-resiliency) of cloud outages, therefore, CIOs should make a conscious effort to mitigate this risk. It’s crucial to [invest in skill uplifting of employee to the changed operating model](https://www.financedigest.com/nissan-renault-to-invest-600-million-to-make-6-new-models-in-india.html "Nissan, Renault to invest 0 million to make 6 new models in India") post cloud migration, not only to ensure they are bought into the transformation initiative, but that they fully understand the system. Having a clear understanding of how the new digitised system operates will help team [members spot when something isn’t quite right or when there’s an opportunity](https://www.financedigest.com/millions-of-uk-linkedin-members-eligible-for-the-opportunity-of-a-lifetime.html "Millions of UK LinkedIn members eligible for the opportunity of a lifetime") to further streamline processes.

Another effective tactic is using emerging technologies such as Machine learning (ML) to identify possible outages ahead of time. Workload forecasting with ML involves considering all necessary variables, including timelines for future rollouts, long-term planning, and customer metrics, to project workload trajectory and recommended timelines for infrastructure maintenance. ML programmes can analyse cloud performance data in [real time](https://www.financedigest.com/its-time-for-real-time-accountancy.html "It’s time for real time accountancy "), and if they identify a disruption, they can automatically offer an alternative, fully functional workflow. As a wider society, we have not yet fully reached ML’s potential, but technology leaders across the board believe that mass adoption is imminent thanks to its many high-value use cases, including cloud outage prevention.

**The road to redemption**

The path to recovery is expensive, time-consuming, and demanding, but organisations must be prepared for it. Having a [clear plan in place](https://www.financedigest.com/future-cheque-clearing-model-places-emphasis-on-speed-and-innovation.html "FUTURE CHEQUE CLEARING MODEL PLACES EMPHASIS ON SPEED AND INNOVATION") in advance is essential for ensuring that the recovery process is as efficient as feasible. CIOs should take the lead on this by setting clear protocols and procedures to follow and making sure that all relevant employees, from developers to customer success teams, know exactly what to do in the event of a cloud outage.

In fact, [IDC](https://www.carbonite.com/blog/article/2015/10/downtime-costs-small-businesses-up-to-$427-per-minute/?_sp=05bde22c-517c-487d-ba59-8ec5f2fb7472.1669881078846) reports 80% of small businesses have experienced downtime at some point in the past, with costs ranging from $82,200 to $256,000 for a single event. This could be hugely detrimental to a growing business, as well as those [operating at enterprise scale](https://www.financedigest.com/russia-promises-to-scale-down-operations-in-northern-ukraine.html "Russia promises to scale down operations in northern Ukraine").

As such, CIOs should take all the preventative steps possible to reduce cloud outages – and ask all the necessary questions of their cloud providers.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---